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MELBOURNE — Uzbekistan beat Saudi Arabia 3-1 on Sunday to leapfrog its opponents and advance to the quarter-finals of the Asian Cup as runners-up of Group B.

Attacking midfielder Sardor Rashidov, one of the five players brought in to the starting line-up after Uzbekistan lost to China on Wednesday, scored twice while substitute Vokhid Shodiyev also netted.

Saudi Arabia, who would have advanced to the knockout phase with a win or a draw, drew level at 1-1 when Mohammed Al Sahlawi converted a penalty in the 60th minute but the Green Falcons bowed out of the tournament by giving up two late goals.

Uzbekistan, semifinalists at the last Asian Cup in 2011, will play Group A winners South Korea in Melbourne on Thursday, with the coach of the Central Asian team saying there would be a “a big holiday in Uzbekistan now”.

“It was one of the great winning games,” Mirdjalal Kasimov told reporters. “It was great because our players, they have done everything.”

China, who topped the Group B standings with three wins, faces the host-nation Australia in Brisbane the same night.

China was already assured of top spot after upsetting Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan and finished the group stage with a 2-1 win over North Korea in Canberra on Sunday in a match played simultaneously as the Melbourne fixture.

With North Korea out of contention, the match was effectively a dead rubber but China coach Alain Perrin resisted the temptation to rest all of his best players, saying it was more important to continue building momentum.

“Australia as the host team will be very difficult for us,” Perrin said. “But we’ve got a new record for Chinese football — we’ve got nine points.”

Right-winger Sun Ke, who came on as a substitute and scored the winner in China’s 2-1 victory over Uzbekistan, celebrated his promotion to the starting side by scoring both his teams goals in the first half.

He netted the first in the opening minute then his second three minutes before the interval. China gave one back when Gao Lin in the second half but held on for the win.

“Our matches were not satisfactory,” North Korean coach Jo Tongsop said. “I think this is a very valuable experience for the whole team.”

Rashidov scored Uzbekistan’s opening goal within 90 seconds of the start, firing the ball through the legs of Saudi goalkeeper Waleed Abdullah.

Saudi Arabia, who won the last of its three Asian Cup titles in 1996, levelled after the break with a hotly disputed penalty when Vitaliy Denisov and Naif Hazazi got tangled up and fell as a cross was coming in.

But Shodiev came off the bench and restored the White Wolves’ lead in the 72nd minute with a header before Rashidov banged in his second 11 minutes from time.

“It’s disappointing for me, for everyone,” Saudi Arabia coach Cosmin Olaroiuhe said. “When you make mistakes like we did today sometimes you pay a price and the price was qualification.”

BRISBANE, Australia — There was more at stake for Ki Sung-yueng than just top spot in the group, and it was evident in his man-of-the-match performance in guiding South Korea to a 1-0 win over Australia at the Asian Cup on Saturday.

Ki, who spent four years living in Brisbane, played a role in the only goal in the contest for Group A supremacy. The South Korea captain played the ball into the area for Lee Keun-ho, who steered a left-foot cross towards the far post and Lee Jeong-hyeop finished with a sliding touch to beat Mat Ryan in the 32nd minute.

The Australians had almost two-thirds of possession and twice as many shots on goal, but two-time champion South Korea took full advantage of its first genuine chance.

“I was desperate to win. I wanted to go first of the group,” Ki said, adding that the “game was for pride” between two of Asia’s top teams.

South Korea won all three group games 1-0, upending an Australian squad that had an 8-1 goal differential going into the group decider. The Australians now face a quarter-final against China on Thursday, while the South Koreans must wait to see who wins on Sunday between 2011 semifinalist Uzbekistan and three-time champion Saudi Arabia.

“We won three games, but I think we start now from the quarter-final,” Ki said. “Our target is to be the champion.”

Australia coach Ange Postecoglou was missing injured captain Mile Jedinak, and also kept key attackers Tim Cahill, Robbie Kruse and Mathew Leckie on the bench to start.

“We had the opportunities, we just didn’t take them,” he said. “We obviously conceded a pretty poor goal from us — we switched off.

“While the result didn’t go our way, we kind of dominated the game for major parts and created opportunities. Ultimately, they got the reward and the result. From a football performance perspective, though, there’s still positives.”

Oman finished third in Group A, picking up its first win from Abdulaziz Al Maqbali’s 69th-minute header in a 1-0 victory over Kuwait in Newcastle.

Postecoglou complained about the surface of the pitch in Brisbane, saying it prevented a slick, attacking game. And South Korea coach Uli Stielike said the pitch had the feel of a surface recently roughed up by rugby. But the 2011 finalists will have to adapt quickly, needing to beat China at the same venue to move into a semifinal at Newcastle on January 27 — quite possibly against defending champion Japan.

The Australians lacked a finishing touch, particularly in the first half, when Tomi Juric and Nathan Burns both had shots on goal.

Australia went close to getting a first-half equaliser when James Troisi pivoted, turned and shot into the side-netting in the 34th minute. The stadium screen wrongly flashed up a goal, bringing a roar from the 48,513-crowd which was packed with fans in gold jerseys except for a large pocket of Korean fans behind the southern goal. But the equaliser never came.

Kruse had a chance for a late equaliser when he was one-on-one with Kim in the 88th minute, but the Korean goalkeeper made a desperate save from close range to preserve the lead.

In a seesawing finish as players from both teams struggled in the hot and humid conditions, Jang Hyun-soo missed a chance to make it 2-0 on a counterattack in stoppage time when his effort was well blocked by Ryan.

AMMAN  — Jordan avoided an early Asian Cup exit at the 16th Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup currently under way in Australia when substitute striker Hamza Dardour helped “Al Nashama” finally win, scoring four goals in Jordan’s 5-1 win over Palestine on Friday.

Dardour, who ended Jordan’s miserable run of 11 games without a win, became only the fourth player in AFC Asian Cup history to score four goals in a single game as two-time quarter-finalists Jordan kept its knockout stage hopes alive after suffering a 1-0 defeat to Iraq in Group D.

Jordan’s hopes of advancing to the quarters this time still hang in the balance. The team will play Japan on Tuesday, while Iraq plays Palestine. Japan leads the group after it beat first time qualifiers Palestine 4-0 and Iraq 1-0. 

Coach Ray Wilkins acknowledged Dardour was his third choice striker, after Ahmad Hayel, who was given a rest after a botched doping test, and Oday Saifi. Hayel will most likely be ready to go back to the pitch by the next match, and Wilkins will need to decide his line-up. 

“He’s got blistering pace and when he’s in front of goal he’ll stick it in the back of the net. He’s very composed in front of goal. His pace will scare people,” Wilkins said of the new star.

Dardour, who is on loan to Saudi Arabia’s Al Khaleej from Jordan’s Ramtha, credited former coach Adnan Hamad for shifting him from wing to striker.

Australia’s Herald Sun quoted Dardour as saying: “Jordan will draw inspiration from their World Cup qualifying win over Japan in March 2013 ahead of their crucial clash. Nothing is impossible, Japan is big team, but we can beat them and qualify.”

“We beat them in World Cup qualifiers so we can do it. This will be a final for us. It feels great, really fortunate to score a super hat-trick,” Dardour added.

Jordan opened scoring with Yousef Ahmad’s strike 12 minutes before half-time at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium. Dardour, who did not play in the first match, went on to score two more before half-time and netted in two more aided by teammate Abdullah Theeb to end the winless streak for Jordan.

There was, though, still time for AFC Challenge Cup 2014 winners Palestine to net its first AFC Asian Cup goal to end the match 5-1. 

Dardour tops the scorers list for now and joined Iranian duo Behtash Fariba and Ali Daei, and Bahrain’s Ismail Abdullatif on the list of players to score four goals at the AFC Asian Cup.

Group D standings

Bahrain’s Abdulwahab Ali Al Safi (back) tackles UAE’s Omar Abdulrahman during their Asian Cup Group C match at the Canberra Stadium in Canberra on Thursday (Reuters photo by Tim Wimborne)

CANBERRA — Ali Ahmed Mabkhout needed just 14 seconds to put the United Arab Emirates ahead as his team went on to beat Bahrain 2-1 on Thursday and secure a rare Asian Cup quarter-finals appearance.

With the Group C encounter meandering towards a 1-1 draw, Bahraini captain Mohamed Hasan deflected a 73rd minute free-kick from Amer Abdulrahman into his own net to hand the UAE a second Gulf derby victory in Canberra following its opening 4-1 win over Qatar.

The UAE and Iran, who beat Qatar 1-0 in Sydney, top the pool on six points and are through to the last eight, with Bahrain and the Gulf Cup champions eliminated with a game to spare.

It is just the third time the UAE has made the quarter-finals and first since 1996.

“This team brings a lot of joy to our UAE nationals and the people are happy and proud,” UAE coach Mahdi Ali told reporters.

“This win will help relax us a bit with regards the pressure against Iran and we will try to go again with the same mentality.”

The Emiratis again looked most dangerous going forward, with their attacking quartet needing a matter of seconds to slice through a leaky Bahraini backline for Mabkhout to notch up his third goal of the tournament.

A neat lofted ball by Omar Abulrahman over the head of Bahraini defender Mohamed Duaij allowed Mabkhout to steal in and finish low under goalkeeper Sayed Mohamed Abbas to notch one of the fastest goals ever scored in the Asian Cup.

The UAE came close to adding a second in the 16th minute when some trickery down the right by Mohamed Abdulrahman led to a cross for Ahmed Khalil but the striker could only cannon a shot against the post.

While the UAE attack were purring, its defence lacked the same dominance and struggled to contain the impressive Jaycee John Okwunwanne, who was causing numerous problems in an entertaining first half.

The Nigerian-born striker headed the Bahrainis level in the 26th minute, rising above Hamdan Al Kamali to meet Faouzi Aaish’s inswinging corner.

Okwunwanne came close to adding a second in the 29th minute when a Bahraini counter led to Rashed Al Hooti crossing from the left but the striker’s header was pushed behind by Majed Naser in the UAE goal.

Omar Abulrahman’s curling free kick just skimmed the top of the crossbar in the best chance of the half minutes before Hasan’s unfortunate own goal decided the contest.

Meanwhile, Japan will take a call on the future of coach Javier Aguirre, currently embroiled in a match-fixing scandal, after the team’s Asian Cup campaign, the country’s football association said on Thursday.

Spain’s anti-corruption prosecutor has named the Mexican in a probe into Aguirre’s Real Zaragoza’s win at Levante on the final day of the 2010/11 La Liga campaign to avoid relegation.

Aguirre has long denied any involvement in match-fixing and has refused to elaborate on his role as the scandal overshadows Japan’s title defence in Australia.

“We would like to prioritise the Japan national team during the Asian Cup, so while the Asian Cup goes on, we’d like to keep this issue under wraps and would like your cooperation on this,” Japan Football Association Chairman Kuniya Daini told a news conference.

AMMAN — The national team plays Palestine on Friday in its second Group D match at the 16th Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup currently under way in Australia.

The teams will play in Melbourne at 9am Amman local time after both sides lost their opening matches. Jordan lost 1-0 to Iraq while Palestine, playing their first Asian Cup, went down 4-0 to titleholders Japan.

According to Jordan coach Ray Wilkins, the match against Challenge Cup champs Palestine will witness changes in the line-up. 

“We have good strikers who have to make use of each opportunity in such high level matches. Otherwise your opponents will score. This is what we need to address,” Wilkins said.

Jordan will miss the efforts of Anas Bani Yasin, who was booked last match, and Ahmad Hayel, who has been unwell after a random test for performance enhancing drugs which followed the last match. 

Wilkins said Hayel was  also doubtful for the third and final clash against Japan.

“I think the important thing, you must always put football in perspective,” former England international Wilkins told reporters in Melbourne on Thursday.

“But people are more important. He lost so much fluid the other night when he played and we were very, very concerned as to his well-being. He is now okay,” he told Reuters.

While the Jordan Football Association filed a complaint with the AFC on procedures which led to the players’ “general weakness, and hypothermia”, during the four-hour procedure, the AFC defended the anti-doping procedure and said the player should not have consumed so much water.

Wilkins said he had not received any response to the team’s complaint from the AFC. The governing body declined comment on the matter when contacted by Reuters.

“I’ve not spoken to anybody, which I expect,” the 58-year-old said. “It’s a big competition, they’ve got lots of things to consider but the most important thing in their consideration must be the person and not what’s going on here.”

Four-time winner Japan is the clear contender to take the group’s top qualifying spot and possibly win the Cup, while Jordan’s hopes on taking the second qualifying spot from the group now rests upon winning the upcoming match and hoping 2011 champs Iraq loses its match.

MELBOURNE — Striker Ahmad Hayel was mistreated during a doping test following the 1-0 loss to Iraq in the Asian Cup on Monday, the Jordan Football Association (JFA) said on Wednesday.

Hayel arrived back at the team hotel “suffering from semi-coma, general weakness, and hypothermia”, the JFA said in a statement, adding they had filed a complaint to the Asian Football Confederation.

The 30-year-old “tired” player vomited in the doping room, which was too cold, and failed to complete the test after playing the full 90 minutes in the Iraq loss, the JFA said.

Citing evidence from their medical officer who accompanied Hayel, the JFA added the player and was only given water to drink, “without salts or electrolytes” in the four hours he spent waiting to give a sample.

“He was in a semi-coma status suffering low blood pressure, and at the end the player was sent to the hotel by a car and not with an ambulance and carried to a wheelchair while he was unconscious,” the JFA said.

The AFC defended the anti-doping procedure and said the player should not have consumed so much water.

“The AFC Medical Officer always recommends players selected for doping control to drink water as per normal practice, especially for the player who has played for 90 minutes,” said doctor Paisal Chantarapitak who attempted to conduct the test.

“It is at the player’s discretion to follow the recommendation or not. The player is not forced to drink plenty of water in short time.”

The AFC added that the doctor decided to cancel the test after Hayel experienced “some dizziness, felt nausea and vomited after his second attempt, which was an hour after his first”.

Earlier, a JFA spokesman said Hayel had been ruled out of Friday’s Group D match against Palestine in Melbourne after the “cancelled” doping test but the player could yet feature.

“Due to the previously mentioned conditions that resulted in Hayel’s bad health condition and the lack of medical care at the doping room, the player might be unable to play Jordan’s next match against Palestine,” the body said.

Experienced striker Hayel has represented his country more than 60 times and plays his club football in Kuwait with Al Arabi.

FIFA presidential candidate HRH Prince Ali, president of the JFA, wished Hayel a speedy recovery, the body said.

BRISBANE, Australia — China coach Alain Perrin was thinking about uncorking some champagne as his players celebrated with raucous singing and high-fives after clinching a spot in the Asian Cup quarter-finals.

Wu Xi and Sun Ke scored second-half goals to propel China to a 2-1 comeback win over 2011 semifinalist Uzbekistan on Wednesday, ensuring top spot in Group B and a January 22 quarter-final match against either Australia or South Korea.

There’s still the matter of a remaining group match against winless North Korea on Sunday in Canberra, but with wins over Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan already, Perrin decided it was OK to celebrate China’s first run to the knockout stage since it hosted the continental tournament in 2004.

Perrin said he’d open two bottles of good champagne back at the team hotel, adding that the coaching and staff had celebrated the opening win and now he’d invite the players.

“We played a very beautiful match,” the Frenchman said. “Now we can move to the knockout stage in the first ranking of the group. It’s fantastic.”

Australia and South Korea, each with six points from two wins, will meet on Saturday to determine top spot in Group A. Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia will play in Melbourne on Sunday to decide which team goes through from Group B with China. Both teams have three points from wins over North Korea.

The North Koreans are already out of contention following the 4-1 loss to the Saudis in Melbourne, where a small but vocal group chanted the name of Kim Jong Un during the match.

Ryang Yong Gi gave North Korea the lead in the 11th minute when he swooped on a failed clearance from Saudi goalkeeper Waleed Abdullah — his country’s first goal in the Asian Cup since 1992 — but Naif Hazazi equalised before halftime and Mohammed Al Sahlawi scored twice in as many minutes to make it 3-1 in the 54th. Nawaf Al Abid added the fourth goal after Ri Yong Jik was sent off in the 77th minute for an intentional handball.

“I’m happy we won the game and also we had a good performance,” Saudi Arabia coach Cosmin Olaroiu said. “Now we have to forget it quickly to prepare for the game against Uzbekistan.”

After weathering China’s early attacking raids, Uzbekistan seized its first real opportunity when Odil Ahmedov’s strike from 25 yards deflected off Wu and looped inside the far past. Uzbekistan appeared to be in control until holes opened up in the defence after halftime.

Wu made amends when he equalised 10 minutes into the second half and Sun, who went on in the 66th minutes, made an angled run from the left two minutes later and struck from the edge of the area.

Uzbekistan coach Mirdjalal Kasimov said his squad needed to regroup quickly ahead of the last group match, and suggested changes were possible after he started with the same 11 for consecutive matches.

Iran and the United Arab Emirates have three points each and will be aiming to qualify from Group C with wins on Thursday. Iran takes on Gulf Cup champion Qatar in Sydney and the UAE plays Bahrain in Canberra.

ZURICH — For the third time, Cristiano Ronaldo was voted the world’s best football player. He hopes it also brought him closer to being remembered as one of the greatest of all time.

Ronaldo won the FIFA Ballon d’Or in a rout on Monday, racking up more than twice the votes of Lionel Messi, who edged German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer into third.

The Real Madrid and Portugal forward’s latest hat trick tied him with Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo of Brazil on three FIFA awards. The original Ballon d’Or presented by France Football magazine was won by European standouts Johan Cruyff, Michel Platini and Marco van Basten three times each.

Only Messi’s four FIFA awards is ahead of the 29-year-old Ronaldo, whose Madrid team again seems better placed for trophies in 2015 than his rival’s Barcelona.

“I want to become one of the greatest players of all time,” Ronaldo said through a translator in his acceptance speech. “Of course, this requires a lot of effort and I hope to get there.”

Ronaldo retained football’s highest individual honour after scoring 61 goals last year. His record tally of 17 in a Champions League season helped Madrid win an unprecedented 10th European Cup title — and overshadowed a relatively disappointing World Cup campaign.

He has kept up the pace since FIFA’s voting college — national team captains and coaches, plus selected journalists, in more than 180 countries took part — cast ballots in November.

Ronaldo helped Madrid take the Club World Cup title last month to cap a Spanish-record 22-match winning streak.

“It’s a fantastic moment in my career,” Ronaldo said after the FIFA ceremony. “I want to carry on with more titles in my career, collective and individual.”

He won his first FIFA award in 2008 as a Manchester United player and on Monday cited his mentor there, Alex Ferguson, as an inspiration.

“He would say, ‘Cristiano, you are the best, don’t worry about the rest.’ He’s fantastic. I miss him,” Ronaldo said.

One year ago, Ronaldo was in tears of joy and relief at ending Messi’s four-year hold on football’s highest individual honour.

He was a much more composed winner on Monday.

On hearing his name read by French great Thierry Henry, Ronaldo closed his eyes, dipped his head and smiled before walking to the stage.

“It has been an unforgettable year,” Ronaldo, who now has a statute in his home island Madeira, said after taking a deep breath.

In what has become a Ballon d’Or tradition, Portugal captain Ronaldo did not pick Messi in his top three and Argentina captain Messi ignored Ronaldo on his ballot. Neither selected Neuer.

Ronaldo received 37.66 per cent of total voting points in a 23-candidate ballot. Messi got 15.76 per cent and Neuer 15.72 per cent.

Germany won the other three major individual awards to compensate for Neuer’s defeat.

World Cup-winning coach Joachim Loew beat Ancelotti and Diego Simeone of Spanish champion Atletico Madrid for the men’s coaching award.

Germany midfielder Nadine Kessler beat two former winners — Marta of Brazil and United States forward Abby Wambach — to be named the best women’s player in 2014. Kessler received 17.52 per cent of all voting points, Marta got 14.16 per cent and Wambach 13.33 per cent.

A German man also won the coaching award for women’s football: Ralf Kellermann was rewarded for leading a Wolfsburg team including Kessler to back-to-back UEFA Champions League titles. The shortlist included Japan coach Norio Sasaki and Maren Meinert, who guided Germany to win the Women’s Under-20 World Cup.

Women’s football also lost to the men in fan voting for the most beautiful goal, known as the Puskas Award.

James Rodriguez’s volley for Colombia against Uruguay at the World Cup beat Ireland forward Stephanie Roche’s spectacular strike for Peamount United in an amateur domestic league match in October 2013. In third place was Netherlands forward Robin van Persie’s header against Spain.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter gave his annual award to 90-year-old Japanese journalist Hiroshi Kagawa, who worked at his 10th World Cup in Brazil. The Fair Play award went to FIFA tournament volunteer workers.

AMMAN — Jordan’s most decorated sportswoman made history by winning the first, and still the only, Jordanian gold at an Olympic or Paralympic Games and yet Maha Bargouthi astonishingly says that people still show her sympathy on a regular basis due to her life in a wheelchair, according to a statement from the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service.

“Throughout my career I have always campaigned for people with disabilities but unfortunately it has not been easy,” Bargouthi was quoted as saying in the statement. “Despite everything that I have achieved, I still receive sympathy from people! I don’t see myself as disabled at all. I want to achieve and win more medals. I don’t want sympathy!”

Her story continues to inspire.

At 51, Maha is preparing to qualify for yet another Paralympics next year in Rio de Janeiro. She is ranked second in the world for her table tennis class and believes she can rediscover the form that clinched gold at the Sydney Games in 2000.

But despite her very public achievements, she concedes that the battle to change the public’s perception of disability sports will continue long after she retires following Rio.

“I keep telling other people in the same position as me ‘don’t stay at home’ and ‘overcome your problems by showing the country what you can do’. It is getting better. There are more opportunities in Jordan and the Paralympics has been important. However, there is a long, long way to go,” Bargouthi said.

Jordan boasts an impressive Paralympic movement consisting of world champions, world record holders and, of course, Bargouthi. A record delegation is expected to travel to Rio in 2016.

“Spending time in her company is enriching. Her smile is contagious and her passion for sport and her country is unrivalled. Her talk is not about wanting better facilities or more money, it is about encouraging others to be better people and to achieve. Something that is sadly lost in modern sport,” David Williams, marketing and communications director at the Jordan Olympic Committee, said in the statement.

Bargouthi’s competitive story stretches back three decades when she started as both a table tennis player and then a wheelchair racer. Incredibly, she smashed the 200m wheelchair race world record at the World Championships in 1995 in Germany. A star was born.

But Bargouthi decided to focus solely on table tennis in 1997 and set her sights on the Sydney Games. What a decision that turned out to be.

“In the build up to Sydney I won three golds at the Pan Arab Games in Amman so I knew I was hitting some form,” she recalled. “But Sydney was something else. To win gold and watch as Jordan’s flag was raised because of me was the highlight of my life. I still dream of that moment.”

So, for now, it is all about the road to Rio where Bargouthi’s incredible sporting journey will come to an end. But while we may be seeing the end of her sporting career, something tells us that we will be seeing a lot more of her as an iconic figure for disability issues in Jordan.

AMMAN — Jordanian endurance athlete Abdel Aziz Al Shuaibi won a brilliant silver in the Arab category, and placed fifth overall at the Afro-Arab Duathlon Championships held in Luxor, Egypt, according to a statement from the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service. The race consisted of a 5km run, 20km cycle and a second 5km run to finish with Shuaibi finishing just 1.1 second behind Tunisia’s Wajdi Hamourani. The overall race, which featured some of the finest duathletes from across the world, was won by Ukraine’s Martinio Yogor. Points from this event go towards the overall qualification mark to the World Championships that will be held at the end of this year in Australia.